4th place for Ralf Matzka in the 11th stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake
As expected, the 11th stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake, which covered 123 kilometers, was decided in a mass sprint. NetApp-Endura’s Ralf Matzka secured for himself a fourth-place finish in Yinchuan. Italian rider Sacha Modolo (Bardiani) claimed his fifth stage win, beating out his countryman Marco Benfatto (Astana Continental) and Argentine rider Ariel Richeze (Lampre). There were no changes in terms of leaders in the general classification.
Many attacks were launched on the relatively short urban course, yet no group managed to gain a sizable lead. It was a very fast race, averaging 50 km/h. Three situations involving crosswinds posed the only real challenge.
“Our race today wasn’t bad but it wasn’t perfect either. We wanted to save our energy, focusing primarily on the sprint finish. The guys were always represented in the first group during the crosswind situations, and we were also in good position with 10 kilometers to go. Two defects then prevented us from setting up a real sprint train for Ralf, and he was left on his own too early,” says Enrico Poitschke describing the stage.
The penultimate stage will offer another opportunity for the sprinters. The first part of the course will cover 22 kilometers before heading into a 12-kilometer circuit that has to be completed eight times.
1 Stage, Sunday, 7 July – Xining – Xining, 138km
2 Stage, Monday, 8 July – Huzhu – GuiDe, 151km
3 Stage, Tuesday, 9 July – GuiDe – Qinghai Lake, 148km
4 Stage, Wednesday, 10 July – Qinghai Lake – Tianjun, 227km
5 Stage, Thursday, 11 July – Tianjun – Xihaizhen, 203km
6 Stage, Friday, 12 July – Xihaizhen – Qilian, 205km
7 Stage, Saturday, 13 July – Qilian – Qilian, 82km
8 Stage, Sunday, 14 July – Qilian – Zhangye, 201km
Monday, 15 July – Restday
9 Stage, Tuesday, 16 July – Zhangye – Zhangye, 117km
10 Stage, Wednesday, 17 July – Wuwei – Jingtai, 191km
11 Stage, Thursday, 18 July – Yinchuan – Yinchuan, 123km
12 Stage, Friday, 19 July – Zhongwei – Zhongwei, 119km
13 Stage, Saturday, 20 July – Lanzhou – Lanzhou, 77km
